


Past, future and some sisterly advice between the two

by Pearlislove



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Family Feels, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Grandparents & Grandchildren
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-04
Updated: 2018-02-04
Packaged: 2019-03-13 18:20:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,491
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13576296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pearlislove/pseuds/Pearlislove
Summary: Vicki and Susan get the chance to meet and have a chat.





	Past, future and some sisterly advice between the two

**Author's Note:**

> For Lesbianchesterton, who wanted Susan amd Vickie meeting.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?!"    
  
They had just returned from their adventures on Marinus. Exhausted and worn out by their adventures, they had all agreed to take some time off and sleep. Even her Grandfather had been yawning, wishing them good night as he disappeared down the corridors.   
  
As Susan retreated to her own room, however, she had found that not everything was as it had been when she left it. Sitting on her bed, hugging a stuffed toy to her chest, was a blond haired girl.   
  
"I'm Vicki." The girl replied, her dark eyes big and curious. She was young, probably around the same age as Susan, and Susan wondered where she might have come from. "Who are you? Does The Doctor know you're here?"    
  
"I'm Susan. The Doctor is my grandfather." Slowly, Susan began to approach the girl. Noticing that nothing happened as she moved closer, Susan finally sat down beside Vicki. "How do you know my grandfather?"   
  
"I travel with him, and Steven." Vicki replied, stretching her back and trying to appear important. "He let me travel with him because I'm very clever and I learn very quick. Also I keep Steven out of trouble." Vicki giggled, but then she suddenly became serious. "I was looking for Steven's panda, Hi-Fi, when I found this room. I've never seen it before, but Hi-Fi was sitting here on the bed." Vicki looked around her, and smiled. "Is it your bedroom? Do you live here, and that's why I've never seen you before?" She looked at Susan curiously, and Susan nodded tensely.   
  
"Yes, it is my bedroom." Susan glanced down at her hands, playing with the hem of her dress. It just didn't make sense! "But I doesn't make sense! If you travel with grandfather too, then why don't we know each other?!" Upset, Susan reached out, instinctively trying to grab on to Vicki's shoulder. But instead of grabbing on to  soft, solid flesh, Susan watched in horror as her hand passed straight through the other girl's body.   
  
"Ah!" Screaming, Vicki drew back, scrambling over to the other side of the bed and holding up the covers like a shield against Susan. "You're a ghost!" She screamed, suddenly throwing the toy Panda she'd been holding at Susan. Flying through the room at full speed, it passed straight through Susan's stomach and collided with the door behind her instead. "The Doctor never said there were ghosts in the TARDIS!"    
  
Watching as the other girl scream at her and accused her if being a ghost, Susan slowly started to understand what was happening to them. She had felt that something was out of sorts already when she stepped into the room, but had passed it off as the normal sensation of the TARDIS consciousness.   
  
She, and Vicki, were both there. In the same room, in the same TARDIS, occupying the same physical space but at two different points in time. Somehow, the TARDIS interface had managed to melt two moments in time into one, enabling Susan and Vicki to meet in a shared physical space as a part of the resulting time disturbance.   
  
"I'm not a ghost! Please, calm down!" Carefully, she tried to move towards Vicki again, making sure not to touch her as she rounded the bed and sat down beside her once more. Vicki stiffened, but didn't move, and Susan continued. "We're inside a time disturbance. Two different points in time, becoming one and meeting in the same physical space. The TARDIS must have done it, but why?"    
  
Vicki looked at her doubtfully, and when she spoke her voice was barely more than a whisper. "Were you that girl that traveled with Ian and Barbara and The Doctor before they met me? Barbara and Ian said that...that there was another girl. But they said The Doctor didn't like talking about it."   
  
"Yes! Oh, I suppose must be.” Susan bit her lip thoughtfully. It was more information about her own personal future than it was safe for her to have, but hardly surprising for her to find out under the circumstances. Yet, knowing this would happen, the TARDIS still connected them. “But there has to be a reason. The TARDIS wouldn't risk upsetting the timelines and changing both our futures for nothing..." Susan glanced at Vicki, and could tell that the other girl was barely able follow her line of reason. Not that it mattered much, as it was much more important to find out why things were as they were. "Were thinking anything, when you came im here? Did something upset you?" She turned towards Vicki, and almost tried to grab her hand before she remembered that she couldn't.   
  
"Well..." Vicki looked at Susan shyly, unsure how much she wanted to tell a stranger. “When I said I went to look for Steven’s toy, I wasn’t really given a choice. The Doctor told me to. He told me children always know where the missing toys are.” Vicki looked over at the panda now lying by the door, frowning. Somehow It felt as though that single toy was responsible for everything that wasn’t working out in her life. “No matter how hard I try I can’t be good enough. The Doctor tells me I’m clever, and I try to listen and understand and learn. But no matter what I do, it’s not enough, I’m still just a child!”

 

“Now now I’m sure grandfather didn’t mean it! He’s not very good at talking to other people. Our people is so different from yours, he can’t possibly understand what every word he says might mean to you!” Susan replied, slightly angry as Vicki for accusing her grandfather of being mean on purpose. 

 

“But that’s just it! He’s a great big bloody alien, and I’m just a girl from the twenty-second century! I do try, Susan, I do, but how can be enough?!” Vicki almost screamed, so tired and frustrated that no one understood how she felt.

 

“You don't have to be!” Carelessly, Susan wrapped her arms around Vicki, not remembering that they could not touch until she was already holding the other girl. To her surprise, there was real, warm flesh underneath her fingers, and Susan squeezed Vicki’s shoulders as she pulled her closer. “That’s what so amazing about you humans. You are not perfect, you are not  _ enough _ . You are simply  _ you _ . That’s what I loved about spending time in the twentieth century, and it is what grandfather loves about Ian and Barbara. I am sure he’d say the same for you.” Susan smiles, hoping her little speech would make Vicki feel better. She wasn't as good at comforting people as Barbara, but she certainly could try when given the chance.

 

“Thank you.” Vicki replied, leaning in to the warm embrace. “I just want The Doctor to really like me. He is so nice, and I don’t want him to feel I’m being stupid and silly.” 

 

“I’m sure he doesn’t. Just believe in yourself, I promise it will be great. Humans are great.” Susan could feel the sensation of another person leaning against her fading, and when she looked to the side, she could see that Vicki had become almost transparent.

 

“Thank you, Susan. For everything.” Vicki smiled and waved her hand, seeing Susan fade away right before her eyes. When she was gone, Vicki sigh, a small smile still on her face as she climbed off the bed and made her way to the door. 

 

Bending down to pick up Stevens toy, the door opened, and a voice spoke.

 

“Ah, Vicki, there you are my girl! I’ve been looking for you. We’ve landed. Time to see what’s out there, hmm?” The Doctor smiled, wrapping his arm around Vicki as they walked down the corridor.

 

“Oh yes! and I can give Hi-Fi back to Steven!” Vicki smiled, confidence flowing through her body as she thought about what Susan had said. All she had to do was to be brilliant in her own humanity.

 

* * *

 

Sitting on the same bed not too far into the past, was Susan. Having just watched Vicki fade away and return to her own proper spot in time and space, she yawned. She was still tired from the adventures of the day, and she was in desperate need of a nap.

 

Lying down upon the bed and wrapping her arms around a pillow, Susan couldn’t help but feel so much lighter in her heart as she thought of Vicki. She’d always worried what might become of her grandfather, if she one day chose to leave. But having met Vicki, she not only knew it was bound to happen one day, but she also knew that he was going to be perfectly safe, looked after by a little human girl in her stead.

 

Around the two girls, the TARDIS hummed happily. She knew what her thief and his family needed, and she gave it to them.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos & comments pls!


End file.
